Chapter 13

It is Tuesday morning and I need to arrange a meeting with Aroha. For one thing I need to share Mikaere’s change of study plans with her. In retrospect, I feel I should have insisted he tell her himself but I had agreed to do so and I need to honour my promise. Anyway, I would like to express my gratitude to her for entrusting me with her younger son. I decide to send her a short email asking if she has time for a brief catch up, perhaps over coffee, some time this week. In the afternoon she replies with a couple of suggested times and we agree to meet on Thursday morning in her office. Soon after that is settled, I receive an email from my new graduate student, Maria Johnson, asking to meet me in my office on Thursday, but in the afternoon, at 2 pm. I hadn’t expected to see her so soon. I have a million questions to ask but I wonder how useful such a constrained meeting would be.

It is Thursday morning and I present myself to Aroha’s office at the appointed time of 10 o’clock. I’m nervous and the official setting doesn’t help. Her PA says she is on the phone, but she calls through the connecting door for me to come through, and waves me to a seat. She soon finishes her call and asks her PA to get coffee for both of us. She asks about the curriculum review committee and I briefly describe how it got underway. We then move on to Mikaere and she asks how it’s working out. I say he’s a delight and thank her for providing me with such a congenial housemate and that I appreciate her trust. I then move on to the topic of his course change. “His course turns out not to be in information technology. Heisto be a technician, but a beauty technician.”

This catches Aroha by surprise. “You mean makeup and nails and such?”

“Yes,” I reply, “and he has practiced his craft on me.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?” she asks, demonstrating some uncharacteristic exasperation.

“I really don't know, and he asked me to tell you, which I agreed to, perhaps wrongly.”

“What do you think about it?” she asks.

“I think he’s rather good at it, and he probably would have good work prospects.”

Aroha smiles and relaxes a little and says she’s happy that I am there to support him.

I mention that I have a late enrolled graduate student, Maria Johnson. Aroha was quick to respond,“Yes, I remember. That was an unusual case. The Chancellor asked me to authorize her enrolment as a special favour. I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to consult you.”

I reply carefully. “I may need to talk to you about her another time, but my current thinking is that she will do OK in this directed study.” I don’t want to be too secretive with Aroha, whom I trust implicitly, but there is no need to lay this particular burden on her right now. So, Sione Latu is part of the picture. I didn’t expect that. I have something else I want to ask. “The police asked me where I was on the Friday night that Sammy was murdered and I told them of our trip to Tuakau. Did they check that with you, by any chance?”

“Oh yes, I confirmed that,” Aroha replies.

In a jokey tone, I respond, “Good. I won’t be their number one suspect then.”

I have lunch at the cafeteria, feeling Sammy’s absence, in preparation for my meeting with Maria. She arrives at my office promptly and, with the door closed, she announces that the room has been swept for bugs and we can speak freely. Even so, she presents me with a small fan, which creates a bit of white noise, to deter more remote listening. Also, she warns me that while it is clear today it might not be tomorrow. Ongoing caution is required. I ask her what she wants to know about my previous contact with Zoltan.

“It could be useful to hear you talk about how you met, how he engaged with you, anything to build a picture about how he operates.”

Very well. I am happy to share, but I need to ask, “Am I a suspect in Sammy’s murder?” I am hoping to hear the answer ‘no’, for they have checked out my alibi.

I find Maria’s answer a little more guarded. “At this stage, we’re still talking to a range of people who may possibly be involved in some way with Sammy’s suspicious death, but we acknowledge your willingness to cooperate with us.” While that is not so reassuring, there is nothing for it but to tell my story.

“In my second year at university I met up with someone I had been in a rock band with.”

“You mean The Devil’s Whores?” Maria interrupted.

“Satan’s Whores, yes. The lead guitarist and lead singer, Erika, took two gap years, while I only took one, so she arrived in my second year. The short story is that we entered into a relationship,”

“You mean a sexual relationship?” Maria asked, a little unnecessarily.

“Yes, and she introduced me to Zoltan.”

“Was Erika a KGB agent?”

“Maybe, but our relationship didn't last and I didn't get to know her really well. I do know her mother was Russian.”

“But Zoltan kept in touch with you after that?”

“Yes, even though I didn’t really encourage that.”

“Were you a Marxist?”

“Well I did join a Marxist group in my first year, a group that had been in existence since the sixties, and I was pretty rebellious but, by that time, I was starting to get more focussed on academic study and my relationship with Marxism was more of an academic and critical kind. I had done well in that first year, in spite of playing hard and engaging in some politics. I was thinking I would like to make an academic career in the USA, which was ambitious at that time.”

“Do you think that it was your potential future career in the USA that made you of interest to Zoltan?” Maria asked.

“Maybe. He could have been playing a long game, I suppose.”

“Why did you have anything to do with him?”

“You must know that he can be very charming. He flattered me. And when Erika broke up with me he was very supportive.”

“Did you ever have sex with him?”

“Never voluntarily.”

“You mean he raped you?”

“Yes, once.” I pause, reluctant to elaborate. “That was a bit later. I made the mistake of saying I wasn’t afraid of him. He took offence at that.”

“How long did you have dealings with him?”

“More than a year. Perhaps close to a year and a half.”

“And did you have any contact with him since that period?”

“Occasionally he would try to contact me. After the breakup of the Soviet Union I didn’t hear anything more from him. I didn’t know he was still in business.” I try asking a question? “Who do you think Sammy was working for?”

“We have some thoughts, but unfortunately we cannot share them with you.”

I understand that Maria would only share information with me on a ‘need to know’ basis. In fact, I am adopting the same policy towards her. I haven’t exactly lied, but I was more involved with Zoltan than I am suggesting. But that would only be a distraction from the investigation. We soon move on to the directed study project. To my surprise, Maria has made some progress with it, even in the short time available. I suspect she likes doing this work. I think we will get a directed study out of her, whether or not she finds the murderer.